The Matriarch

Chapter 2 Results

Though no longer aware of what was happening, Chris ended up being lucky as several more tests were done during his stupors, such as gas poison, acid drips, and burns.

He was only able to wake up when he felt the world-shaking around him as two men carried him in a stretcher. Shakily, he tried to open his eyes to see where he was being sent. Though he could still feel the pain, all his wounds and scars were completely gone when he was brought to the physical examination room.

Inside, there was a man with glasses, hair in a rugged ponytail, he seemed to be contemplating while looking at the clipboard that he was holding, rubbing his chin before letting out a deep sigh.

“This is the subject sir,” one of the men who was wearing a white hazmat said, as Chris was being placed on the examination table.

“Okay, you can leave him to me,” the man wearing glasses waves the two men off.

“Copy that,” the two saluted and answered almost in unison.

Tired, weak, and almost numb, Chris no longer cared when the mans’ hands started exploring his naked flesh. Feeling the cold touch of the latex glove sliding on his skin.

“Oh, you seem to be awake,” the man chuckled as he saw his eyes move to him. "Sorry about that, It's just that I still can't believe how they can do this," he says pointing to the parts of his hand where there was supposedly a would from a piece of his skin being taken.

Chris tried to say a word but nothing came out of his mouth even though his lips were moving. He felt so sore inside and his throat was dry, that it almost hurt just to make a sound.

“Don’t worry, we’re already done with your examination,” the man says, helping him to sit down when he noticed him trying to stand.

Chris noticed the nameplate on the man’s chest ‘Dr. Howard Stein’. Somehow he felt relieved as he knew what being there meant.

He was able to sit on his own, the doctor immediately got a glass of water, giving him a few sips to quench his parched mouth.

“Wha-what happened, how did it go?” he was finally able to say, as he was once again he felt okay, after gulping down the sweet ice-cold water.

The doctor let out a heaving sigh, before sitting back on his swivel chair. He then grabs his clipboard, flipping pages that were attached to it.

“Well, you really have us baffled.” the man says, scratching the top of his head with a pen, showing a bit of confusion on his face as his face furrowed while reading.

Chris swallowed hard, the pain and humiliation that he was feeling a while ago were quickly erased by the feeling of anxiousness because of the anticipation, excitement, and anxiety of what had happened with him. He remains quiet, nodding at the physician in front of him, not daring to impede the news any longer.

“Your energy and psyche readings are off the charts, plus your body did manage to undergo changes,” The doctor informs him all the while keeping his eyes on the paper he was reading.

Chris suddenly felt a burst of life, sprang from inside of him. If that was the case, it just means that he was finally off the hook.

“Then, that’s good news right!” he says, not hiding his cheer and excitement from the news.

That made doctor Howard raise his head towards him. The man let out a smile seeing the wide grin on his face along with twinkling eyes.

“No, not really,” he says discarding the actual facts of the result a while ago.

Chris's color almost faded is life suddenly drained away hearing that. It took him a few moments to process all those things as he knew that having those results meant something more.

“What, why?” he was almost teary-eyed, out of breath and trembling from the shock of it all. He could not believe that he went through all of those things for nothing.

Though feeling a bit awkward with his reaction, doctor Howard remained staring straight at him as he continued with what he was about to say.

“You’re what we call a dud mister Cruz,” he says in a straight and firm voice. No longer smiling as his serious face took over.

Chris felt a chill down his spine as he was suddenly thrust into a predicament he knew was going to be hard for him to resolve. Making him bow his head in shame and the feeling of sudden helplessness. Unable to say much he just remained silent. Holding on to the tears that he could feel was starting to cover his eyes.

“Your whole test results may be showing a very high level of power, but seeing as you failed the ability test just means you are unable to tap into it, which renders you entirely useless. You can basically be compared to a nuclear missile that is unable to blow up,” the doctor clarified. Gesturing his hands all over the place as he explained.

“But...but how can that be?” Chris was now gasping for air.

Despair now slowly crept into him, as he felt his world slowly shatter into pieces. This wasn’t supposed to happen, especially after he was detected and was even announced as a possible high-class being. Everyone was rooting for him, everyone expected a lot and now this was happening.

Once again he felt like fate was playing tricks on him as it managed to have his hopes up, making him believe in a better and brighter future ahead for his family just to end up being given nothing.

“We’re not sure either, that’s the thing that bothers us. Though you’re not the only one with this rare case. I heard there are three other people with the same case as you have, coming from different labs, so don’t feel so down about it.” Doctor Howard laughs, thinking that the forced gesture would make Chris feel good.

All he could do was just stare at the floor, frozen in place as he slowly came to realize that once again he was going to be considered worthless and of no use.

“So, since that is the case…” doctor Howard continued.

But all the words that came out of the man’s mouth were like murmuring, muffled sounds as Chris slowly faded into despair. Tears slowly escaping his eyes from the loss of his one and only remaining opportunity to be able to help out his family.